In the beautiful, and difficult to visit, Casino Boncompagni Ludovisi we find, on a ceiling, a surprise, or rather a rarity: the only Caravaggio's wall painting. Yes, when we talk about the greatest exponent in the artistic field, a kind of genius and eccentricity, we usually think of a canvas (as in this case). However, we now know very well how the city of Rome can surprise us with artworks, sometimes, unimaginable. So, today, your tour guide takes you to discover a real unique piece.

This Caravaggio's wall painting depicts the allegory of the Elements, three of which are personified by the Greco-Roman deities with which they were anciently associated: Jupiter (fire), Neptune (water), and Pluto (earth). The three also have their iconic attributes clearly visible, just to be certain not to make mistakes! Thus Neptune rides a horse with webbed extremities, Jupiter is above a large eagle, while next to Pluto we find Cerberus (allegedly modeled after Caravaggio's own little dog, named Cornacchia). In the center of the composition is a large sphere representing the universe in its entirety, with another sphere in the middle representing the Earth and some zodiac signs clearly visible nearby (the Fishes and the Aries are recognizable). And the fourth element, the Air? Caravaggio has the brilliant idea of representing it with the impetuous gesture of Jupiter, causing an intense air movement around him. But this is just the beginning because Caravaggio, a master in breaking conventions, in inventing and reworking, applies an unconventional style for that time. Firstly, the figures are not framed in a quadrature, in a painted fake architecture as can be seen in the Sistine Chapel or in all the other frescoes of the time. The Elements are stronger than everything, and cannot be confined. That's why the figures seem to float in the void, in the Air. Let's look at the three deities themselves. Upon close inspection, it seems that their bodies are very similar, almost identical. The reason? They are! Caravaggio apparently used his own body to represent Jupiter, Pluto, and Neptune. All the anatomical details, including the genitals, would be those of the master who, to create this bold, almost impossible, and revolutionary pose (the figures indeed seem to be seen from below upwards), portrayed himself by placing himself on a large mirror on the scaffolding used by Caravaggio to climb up to the ceiling. A way to see oneself, truly, from all points of view... I conclude by saying that this room was, in 1597, when Caravaggio was commissioned the work, the study and the private laboratory of Cardinal Del Monte. The man, who first took Caravaggio under his protective wing, was not just a simple cardinal. He was an art lover, but above all, a curious person. He loved to experiment, had philosophical, astrological, and astronomical knowledge (apparently, he was not afraid to discuss, in his residence, texts by Paracelsus and Galileo that were put on the Index). A man who, not to miss anything, also had a personal alchemy laboratory where he himself experimented with various solutions to find the proverbial Quintessence, the elixir of long life. It is here that he commissioned Caravaggio's work, perhaps to pay homage to his own passions.

As you can see, the case of Casino Boncompagni Ludovisi fully reflects the cultural world in which an artist like Caravaggio, at the beginning of the Seventeenth century, moved here in Rome. Sometimes it took very little, a simple interest, perhaps unconventional, of a man who could afford to spend money, time, and resources (as in the case of the cardinal who commissioned the Caravaggio's fresco) to produce timeless and very particular masterpieces, from all points of view. It is not surprising that precisely a personality, I repeat, unconventional, like Caravaggio's, was able to create such an eccentric, if we may say, and unconventional work.